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How to save and update an InfoPath form into a Sharepoint library, the simple way

It took me a bit of time to get around the notion of the Submit feature in InfoPath when trying to save a form into a SharePoint Document Library, because in some cases it would always save a new form into the library, even when I just edited an existing one.

So here is what to do : (start with a simple form and only one submit button to make it simpler)

Create a simple infopath form

Open the Controls list and double click the TextBox to add a field. (no need to rename it)

Double-click the button to insert a button

Double click the button and select “Submit”

The label will change automatically to Submit, you can rename it.

Click Submit Option

Enable “Allow users to submit this form” (otherwise what’s the point of a Submit?)

And select send form to “SharePoint document library”

–<!–[endif]–>Click ADD to add a data connection to the Sharepoint library

Fill-in the URL of the library

Now here is the bit to pay attention : chose a name for the form that will be unique for each form, but will however not change if you go and edit the form (ie don’t use “Now()” as it will change every time you submit. Use a value from a field of that form for instance.

And more important: make sure “Allow overwrite” is ticked, so that any future update to the form will be allowed.

That’s it, now the form will be the same behaviour as any item in a Document Library when you click SUBMIT it will actually do a Save if we talked in a SharePoint language.

Why is it confusing ?

Well… because InfoPath is not just designed for SharePoint, so they had to adapt it to meet other usage, like receiving an infopath form by email, filing it and “submitting” it once.

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Published by Francois Souyri

French native living in London, for over 10 years François built applications with the end-user in mind before UX term became mainstream. Crossway between a designer, developer and system architect, he prefers stretching the limit of out-of-the-box features rather than breaking them into code.
View all posts by Francois Souyri